AuthorTopic: Burnout Advice (Read 3263 times)

I've done 27 PTs in the last 10 weeks, from oldest to newest, at regular intervals. My initial diagnostic score was a 151, cold, without any prior familiarity with the LSAT. From PTs 15 to 24 I've been scoring in the 170+ range, with an average score of approximately 173-174.

My problem. From PTs 20 to 24 I floundered without making much progress, on PT 25 I scored a 162, 26 a 158 and 27 (today) a 154. The worst part about these PTs, I felt like I was performing as well as I had when I was scoring 170. I'm certain that this nosedive is due to burnout, but I have no clue how to deal with it.

I've also been having dreams, literally nightmares about the day of the test for the last 3 weeks. Last night, I dreamt about finishing 2 LR sections and half a LG section before waking up.

Is this a sign of pretest anxiety bleeding through? (self evident answer)

Wow, I had the exact same crash around the exact same tests. It's burnout. Definitely. 27 knocked me out cold with a 163 when I took it the first time. Took it a second time after three or four weeks and got a 178.

Take 2-3 days off. I know it's last minute and the test is around the corner, but I PROMISE it will work wonders. And don't be like me and underestimate your progress because of one test -- definitely does more harm than good! After a few days of mental rest, just tell yourself it was a flake and proceed forward. It should all work out okay

Wow, I had the exact same crash around the exact same tests. It's burnout. Definitely. 27 knocked me out cold with a 163 when I took it the first time. Took it a second time after three or four weeks and got a 178.

Take 2-3 days off. I know it's last minute and the test is around the corner, but I PROMISE it will work wonders. And don't be like me and underestimate your progress because of one test -- definitely does more harm than good! After a few days of mental rest, just tell yourself it was a flake and proceed forward. It should all work out okay

Good luck!

Sorry, I didn't mean PTs 25 26 and 27, but rather my 25th 26th and 27th PTs. I think they were PrepTests 53, 52 and one other.

Logged

TimMitchell

hahaha, but all jokes aside people; I don't think anything is too unusual with a couple outliers. I've always considered myself an ace standardized test taker, I'm very calm and don't get distracted during the real thing, but a few times I have bombed a PT which really makes you doubt your chances of getting your target score (or for retakers like me, beating my inital score). Pie is right, take a day or two off or find another way to relax. You start to think only in LSAT terms and it messes with you, some time away does some good.

The tough part is the fact that you felt you were performing as well as before, one thing that got me on the June test was that I prepped using older tests and wasn't prepared for some of the changes. What sections messed you up? Did you feel confident in your answers?

Same problem, here. I was scoring upper 160's and broke into 171, then ended up crashing to 159, 157, and 159 today. I was never great at logic games, but I went from 1 or 2 wrong in LR to ~6-8 wrong. I decided to take the night off, go to classes tomorrow, do some review (independent test sections, not a whole timed test) to try and isolate what my problem is if it's not stress. Hit the PTs again on Thursday.

Just keep in mind that even professional athletes have bad games. We really are like the professional athletes of the LSAT world; most of us on this board are scoring in ranges that most prospective law students couldn't even reach if their lives depended on it. When you get to this high level of accomplishment, it mostly becomes about mental discipline. It sounds like you have the skills necessary to perform exceptionally on the test, just have faith in them and do anything you can to make sure you're in your top mental state come test day, which probably entails taking a break for a couple of days at this point.

I always doubted that a 'burnout' effect would seriously have a detrimental effect. Roughly three months ago, I scored a 143 on my first diagnostic, no prior experience. Since then, I've dedicated myself full force and studied 7 days a week, 8 hours a day, on average. In the last two weeks, I've been averaging a 163/164.. and nailed a 167 on my highest. After that, my preptests went to 156 then 152 then 158 then a 160. Just like one of the poster's said previously, I felt like I nailed the material. I was ending each section with extra time and extreme confidence. However, when it came down to scoring... it was just a seriously depressing moment.

I decided to take today off, but my body is not allowing itself to relax. I can't stop thinking about how bad my scores have dropped.. and I'm fighting the urge of doing another preptest tonight just to prove to myself that those test's are just some temporary flukes.

i did the same thing & did lsat prep lite for 1 week, without fully taking a break. it worked then i jumped 10 points back up to my norm (172ish). however, after going back up, i took another test last night & got a 163! of course i know that is not a bad score, but when i worked that hard for 170s, i do not want a 163 on test day.

so, since i feel like i already took my break, i'm not gonna take another. but like i posted today, i think i am gonna relax from pt's for a day or 2 and do the lr bible. maybe it will do the trick of a semi-break & helping my score.